


Hunt Me

by pinupbaka



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Animal people, Bathing, Hunter!AU, Hunters & Hunting, Levi in tight black jeans oh yes, M/M, Whipping, sex will come later i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-07 13:31:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1900764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinupbaka/pseuds/pinupbaka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi is a well known hunter and he's set his sights on a beautiful green eyed deer called Eren. Too bad he might just fall in love with the very thing he set out to kill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yayyy new fic!
> 
> Things you should know before you read the rest of this - All the "animals" in this AU are actually half humanoid things. So whenever an animal is mentioned, you should just imagine a half human half animal.
> 
> If you cant, then just think of a human with the animals ears/horns/tail/colour pattern and you're good to go :)
> 
> Also, everyone speaks english.
> 
> Even the dogs.
> 
> Enjoy!

Watching a deer play with his friends before you shot him was the kind of feeling you get when you see a child reach out to touch a rose, not knowing the thorns that guarded it.

Levi was a hunter, he was born that way, raised that way, and it was in his blood. In this world blood was as precious as diamonds, it told you your status, your class, whether you were the prey or the predator, the hunter or the hunted. And Levi was hunting today.

He breathed in the heavy scent of the forest and lifted his rifle. There were three deer ahead. A small male with blonde hair and barely formed antler stubs, a large doe with black hair and a red scarf and another male with brown hair and two reasonably large horns. They were in a small clearing between the trees and the three seemed to be chatting happily.

_What a shame._

He would take the brown haired buck, his antlers would fetch a good price as well as the strong looking hooves. Levi exhaled slowly, his breath ghosting across his knuckles, eyes traveling up and down the body facing away from him and put his finger to the trigger.

He leaned forward.

Snap!

A twig crunched under his foot and the three startled deer turned around.

Green.

All Levi could see were two sparkling green eyes. The deer he had planned on killing had turned around and seen him. He was stunned for a split second before shaking himself out of it and pulling the trigger.

Levi's hesitation had caused him to miss. Instead of instantly killing him, he shot the buck in the upper thigh. The three fled, leaping and sprinting over rocks as Levi cursed and chased after them.

The injured male wouldn't get very far and after a short search, Levi followed a trail of blood to where the three deer had hidden behind a rock.

The female jumped up and attempted to tackle Levi but was thrown to the side as the injured one yelled at her to leave him.

Levi pulled out a small pistol and aimed it at the doe, silently telling her to leave or die.

"Mikasa! Run! PLEASE!" The brown haired male begged.

The blond one seemed to bite his lip before grabbing the female and pulling her aside. They had a quick argument before the female was kicked in the leg by the injured deer and Levi fired a warning shot.

The sound of the pistol echoed in the forest for a second before the two unharmed deer sprinted off.

Turning his attention to the struggling deer on the ground, Levi pulled out a small hunting knife and grabbed one of the antlers roughly. The injured male thrashed harder, managing to hit Levi above the eyebrow and leaving a small cut. The hunter tugged hard on the antler in his gloved hand and the deer let out a pained keen.

Levi pulled him close enough so that they were chest to chest and drew up the knife so that it pressed flat against his cheek.

"Do you know how much these will fetch on the markets?" Levi said quietly, rubbing his thumb slowly against the short fur on the base of the antlers with a small smirk.

"P-Please let me go. I didn't mean to h-hit you." The young deer pleaded, staring straight into Levi's eyes.

The hunter paused, slightly taken aback by their brightness. However, he quickly composed himself and slowly turned the knife around so that the cold, sharp edge rested against the deer's cheekbone.

He could feel a shiver run through the deer as it tried to be still to keep it from digging into the skin. The buck was a pretty one, he would be a good pet for a nobleman but today, Levi was after antlers.

He moved his arm so that the knife rested against the deer's chest, ready to plunge in.

"WAIT! I-I-if you're going to kill me I want you to at least know my name." The young deer stuttered.

Levi paused before nodding.

"What is it?"

"I'm Eren Jaeger." The deer said which earned him a scoff from the hunter.

"Jaeger? As in hunter?" Levi questioned. "How ironic."

The pair were silent for a second before Levi shifted. "Well if that's all."

He raised his arm again when he was stopped with another shout from the deer.

"WAIT WAIT! What's your name?" Eren blurted out.

"Why?"

"I…. want to know the name of my killer that's all."

_Why do you need that, you're going to be dead._

Levi was starting to get annoyed. He usually didn't entertain the requests of his prey.

"I'm Levi" He said.

"W-well Levi, it's… nice to meet you." Eren said with a shaky voice.

"I'm sure it is." Levi replied before pausing.

"Are you quite done?" He continued, annoyed that his kill had been delayed so much.

Eren shook his head, frantically racking his brain for ideas to stop the hunter.

He opened his mouth but was rudely stopped by a gloved hand covering it.

"Shh." Levi whispered, listening for something.

There was a dull thudding in the distance.

The hunter pulled Eren close against him and flattened his back against the rock as the thudding turned into the thunderous sound of hooves heavily beating the ground.

Upon hearing the hoof beats, Eren suddenly threw himself out of Levi's grip and used his uninjured leg to boost himself up over the rock.

"GUYS! I'M HERE!" He yelled, waving frantically before being yanked down roughly by Levi who hissed at him angrily.

"What the fuck."

Eren smiled at him. "They have come for me!"

Soon, they were surrounded by a herd of deer of various sizes. If Levi had a few more men with him, they would have made a fortune. It seemed that the "Mikasa" doe had brought their entire herd.

Levi quickly flipped Eren under him, pulled his head back by an antler and brought the sharp edge of his hunting knife to the exposed throat.

"Step closer and I'll slice his pretty little head right off." Levi hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously.

The deer hesitated, weighing the chances before the small blond one from before spoke up.

"We don't want any trouble, j-just give Eren back and we will not harm you. There's nothing to gain for yourself if you kill him anyways." His voice was clear but shaky.

Levi considered it for a second before relaxing his grip and rolling off Eren. Immediately, the one in the red scarf rushed to his side and started fussing over his leg. The rest of the herd approached him.

A tall, handsome male reached out his hand to Eren. "Look who got caught! You're lucky your pretty sister called us." He grinned at the female.

Eren slapped his hand away. "It's good to see you too horsey."

A tall blonde lifted Eren gently and draped him over a broad shoulder. Levi pushed himself to his feet, preparing to leave when the doe in the red scarf tackled him.

"You fucker. I'm going to kill you!" She hissed at him, fire practically spilling from her mouth, before raising a fist.

Levi closed his eyes and braced himself for an impact that didn't come.

_Huh?_

The small blond had grabbed her arm with both hands. "Mikasa, we told him we wouldn't hurt him."

The female gave a frustrated sighed and reluctantly stood up. She turned to leave but paused at the last second.

Levi looked up as the herd turned away and started to leave. His eyes locked with Eren's startling green ones before he heard a shout of "Mikasa no!"

And his vision went black.

* * *

 

"Levi!"

"Levi!"

He awoke to someone shaking his shoulder and a cool cloth being applied to his forehead.

"Levi! You're awake! Man I never thought I'd see the day 'humanity's strongest' was knocked out behind a rock."

Levi looked around, trying to figure out his surroundings. He was in the common room of the hunter's headquarters. Various "prizes", mostly taxidermied heads from hunts adorned the wooden walls and bearskins were laid over the red carpet. There was a fire burning in the far wall of the room and he was laying across a leather couch.

He lifted a hand to his head, feeling the dried blood crusting a shallow wound. Levi's head was throbbing and he let out a pained groan when he was pulled roughly to his feet.

"Hello to you too Hanji." He said.

The woman laughed and patted him on the back. "So what happened? Did you run into some wolves or something?"

Levi just shook his head. "Nah."

Hanji shot him a questioning look, which he ignored in favor of reaching for a glass of water.

"How long was I out?"

Hanji laughed again. "Three days! Can you believe it? If we hadn't found you, a bear or something would have gotten you."

Levi raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Bears? I thought we cleared them out a long time ago."

Hanji's eyes glinted in the firelight. "Yea but you seeeeee, Mike was out the other day chasing rabbits in the north forest and he saw three cubs and a momma bear!"

"I see. That's good then."

"Oh Erwin wanted to see you when you woke up, I think he needs you to go into town to pickup some ammo or something." She continued.

Levi nodded and straightened. "I'll go now. Did you get my gear?"

Hanji shook her head. "Not a single weapon on you."

Levi cursed. "Fuck those green eyes."

"What was that?" Hanji asked, pushing her face too close to Levi.

"Back up shitty glasses, your breath is disgusting. I'll just go buy some more in town."

"Leviiiii" She whined. "How mean!"

* * *

 

Their city was organized very neatly. There were mountains to the west, covered in lush forests and they were fertile hunting grounds. The hunter's village was located in the middle of the mountains and had three roads leading out of it. One of them connected to the town where the hunters would trade and sell their goods to the merchants in return for money or other necessities.

Another road led to the peasant's village where many hunters had family living there. The peasant's village was to the east where the land met the sea and it doubled as a bustling fishing port.

The last road was a small one, not marked on the maps. It led to a small gathering of wooden cabins. The slave traders. It sounded worse than it really was. The traders took live animals, and sold them to as servants, slaves and "pets" to the rich noblemen in town.

Levi never liked going into town. The merchants were greedy, the people smelled terrible and it always felt like you were being watched no matter what you did or where you went.

He walked down the main road of the town and approached a small dirty store. He pulled the dirty curtain to the side and stepped inside with a lip curl of disgust. Levi hated this store but it sold good weapons.

"Ah! Levi, welcome! Welcome!" A tall blonde man approached him. There was a dog sitting in the corner who barked at the entering man.

"Hannes. I see your stop is as much of a pigsty as ever." Levi greeted.

Hannes laughed, "It's good to see you too. Meet Markyl, I got him from the traders last week." He gestured to the dog who stood up and bowed to Levi.

"Hello Mr Levi." He said politely.

Levi nodded a greeting to the canine boy.

"I need two hunting knives, two Marlin rifles and five rounds of ammo."

Hannes raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What happened to your old guns?"

Levi let out a 'tch'. "Some brat stole them."

The other man let out a barking laugh. "Well Marlins are $850 nowadays but since you're an old friend, ill do you $800 whatdaya say?"

Levi shook his head. "$600."

"Levi! Do you know how good the trigger pull on this baby is?" Hannes said, pulling a long silver rifle off the wall and running his hands over it.

"I'll take one for $650."

"Two for $1400 and I'll throw in the ammo for free."

"Deal."

Levi paid for his goods and left the store without another word. "Pleasure doing business with you Levi!" Hannes yelled after him.

* * *

 

Levi returned to the headquarters and headed to Erwin's cabin. He knocked on the door and tapped his foot impatiently.

"One moment!" came a deep voice.

After a few seconds and hearing a crash come from inside, Erwin pulled open the door. His he was shirtless, his hair was a mess and he had red scratch marks stretching across his chest.

A figure appeared behind Erwin and wound its arms around his midsection. It was a greyhound and he looked angry.

"Having fun with Nile I see." Levi said.

_How filthy._

Erwin scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Was there something you needed?"

Levi handed him the bags of ammunition and turned to leave when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch me with those fingers. I know they've been up his damn ass." Levi hissed, hitting Erwin's hand off.

Nile let out an annoyed bark but was cut off by Erwin. "Levi. The traders need three deer alive for a nobleman by next week. I was going to get Hanji but it seems she ran off to look for bears."

Levi scoffed. "Okay."

_I know exactly which deer I'm getting._

* * *

 

Levi was happy today. It wasn't too often that one would find Levi happy but he was happy today.

He stood in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom and pulled on his green undershirt over his dog tags and buckled his belt system. It stretched across his chest and ran down his sides. Levi slid a small handgun into its holder and pulled a tight black hunting jacket on. It fit him like a glove and he stepped into a pair of tight fitting black pants.

He pulled a black cap on and slid his hands into a pair of leather fingerless gloves. Tightening the straps at the end of the gloves, he looked into the mirror and nodded at his reflection.

_I'm going to get that pretty little 'Eren' today. And he is going to pay for dirtying my clothes._

He slid a rifle into a holder on his back and placed another one on the ground as he tied up his combat boots.

Slinging a bag of supplies over his shoulder, he picked up the rifle and set out for the east forest where he had spotted the green eyed deer.

After a short trek, he arrived at the rock where he was so rudely kicked in the head by the doe. It had been four days since he was last there and their tracks would have been covered up by leaf litter and washed away by morning rains.

But Levi wasn't called 'Humanity's strongest' for nothing. He set off in the direction that he had last seen the herd turn away in. There was a meadow, which was not too far away in that direction.

He climbed over rocks and made good time through the forest but upon arriving at the meadow, was greeted with a disappointing scene. It was empty.

_Probably shouldn't have thought this was easy._

He wasn't disheartened however, as he walked the edges of the meadow and saw a littering of broken twigs and crushed flowers.

_Bingo!_

He had found a reasonably solid trail to follow. So he followed.

For two days and two nights he followed the trail. Sometimes It thinned out and Levi had to rely on pure instinct to find it again and other times it was glaringly obvious that the animals had gone that way.

It was uncommon for hunters to leave on trips alone but Levi preferred it this way. In his opinion, no one else could keep quiet enough for him to get a good shot at his prey and the meaningless chatter that came with company was more than enough for him to turn down any offers of partnership.

The only issue for him being alone was the threat of running into packs of wolves and mountain lions. The chances of lions were quite low but wolves were common in the east and although Levi was skilled, it was hard to get away from a hungry pack.

But Levi took that risk.

* * *

 

He was running short on supplies by the third day but that only spurred him on more. He valued a good chase more than anything in his life and his efforts were rewarded when he climbed to the top of a hill and saw a gathering of deer in a clearing in the distance.

Allowing himself a small smile, Levi made his way down the hill and approached the space. It was clear by the time he arrived but he knew that the herd was close by.

After an hour of searching, he found the herd lingering around a small stream and just as he had suspected, it was the herd with the green-eyed buck he was looking for.

He spotted the small blond from before washing himself in the shallow end of the stream and some other familiar faces but Eren was nowhere to be seen.

Cursing under his breath, Levi crouched behind a protruding rock and watched the herd.

There were fifteen adult deer and three children in the herd in total. They were covered in fur from the hips down and wore olive green vests with white fur-lined hoods.

Some of the deer had gloves and scarves but most of them just had the vests.

Levi never understood where the animals got their clothes. They just seemed to appear.

There were four stags in the group, large enough to easily tower over the hunter. They had broad shoulders and muscly arms. Levi recognized the tall blond who had carried Eren on his shoulders.

Levi couldn't do anything just yet, the stags could easily overpower him so he waited.

About an hour passed and the sun was starting to set before he saw the deer he was searching for. Eren had returned to the group with Mikasa behind him.

_Isn't that sweet, I guess they're a mated pair._

The rest of the herd greeted the pair and they went about their business readying the area to settle in for the night.

Levi rested his back against the rock he was hidden behind and made himself comfortable.

He had a long wait ahead of him.


	2. Poor misfortunate deer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren gets a rather nasty wakeup call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!! 
> 
> so this chapter is so much longer than i had originally planned...
> 
> Levi may or may not be slightly OOC in here but enjoy anyways :)

 

The moon was a sliver of silver high in the sky by the time Levi decided to make his move. The herd had all laid down in groups to sleep. Eren was nestled between Mikasa and the small blond, out cold.

_I didn't know deer had threesomes._

Levi let out a quiet snicker at the thought.

Getting Eren out alone would be hard work and the more Levi thought about it, the more excited he was getting. He could almost hear the blood pumping in his ears and feel his hands twitching for some action.

He slipped out from his hiding place and made his way down to the stream, steps light and breathing even. The hunter had brought five tranquilizing darts and he loaded one into a small, handheld gun. Levi held it close to the female deer's arm and pulled the trigger.

The tip of the silver dart slid into Mikasa's skin silently and Levi allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction before sedating the small blond.

_Right. Now for the main course._

He loaded another needle into the handgun and shot Eren in the shoulder. The stuttering feeling of the gun firing was as satisfying to Levi as sinking into a soft bed after a long day.

He lifted the now unconscious deer onto his shoulder and left the scene quickly. Eren wasn't quite a stag but he was still 200 pounds and Levi paid the price of coming alone. He struggled with the deer slightly, stumbling over rocks and walking into shrubs but managed to move the unconscious boy a few kilometers away.

He rested Eren's slumped form against a tree. He wouldn't wake up for another hour so Levi was safe to do whatever he wanted.

And there was something he desperately wanted to do.

* * *

 

He retraced his steps and arrived back at the stream where the rest of the herd was sleeping. The hunter pulled the doe who had kicked him up to two nearby trees and pulled off her red scarf.

Holding her arms behind one of the tree, Levi used the scarf to tie her two hands together in a square lashing. He then produced another piece of rope from his bag and secured her ankles to the other tree, leaving her half hanging in the air.

His act of childish revenge left Levi feeling rather giddy as he gathered a handful of leaves and set about covering his tracks.

Before he left the scene completely, he allowed himself a second to gloat over his handiwork.

_A job very well done._

Levi moved through the forest quickly and silently. Soon, he arrived back at the place where he had left Eren.

Procuring another length of rope, he bound Eren's ankles and wrists together and sat on a rock next to the boy to wait for him to wake.

He had plans for the boy.

* * *

 

When Eren woke, the first thing he noticed was that he was cold. Which was strange because usually in the mornings he had Mikasa and Armin snuggled into him.

The next thing he noticed was an annoying  _something_  sticking into the underside of his chin.

And then he seemed to realize everything at once.

The hunter from a few days ago was standing in front of him, looking very, very, very displeased.

His hands were bound together tightly, as were his ankles, and the  _something_  that had been digging into his skin before was the end of a menacing looking, black leather riding crop.

"Ohhhh shit." He said out loud.

"Yea. Ohhhh shit indeed." The hunter replied, leaning closer.

"You know,  _Eren,"_ He spat the last word with disgust. "It's not nice to deceive people. Didn't your mommy ever tell you not to talk to strangers? Hmm?"

Eren pulled at his arms, desperately trying to free himself before giving up and spitting in Levi's face.

"No but she told me that you're a piece of shit." He snarled.

This earned him a raised eyebrow. "Oh no, you do not want to go there brat." Levi hissed. He raised the crop and whipped it across Eren's cheek, drawing a pained shout out of the buck and leaving a red streak across the cheekbone.

"What the FUCK was that for?" Eren yelled at him. He felt his eyes tearing up from the pain.

"Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners." Levi hissed, raising his arm again. "This is for making me entertain that stupid idea of yours."

He brought the crop across Eren's face again with a  _crack,_ whipping the buck's face to the side. "And this is for making me squat in the dirt with you"

_Crack!_

"And this is for kicking me in the face."

_Crack!_

Eren let out a slight whimper, biting his lip to try and keep it in. He would not show weakness to the hunter. He would not.

Levi saw that Eren was restraining himself from crying out and grabbed his antler roughly.

"Did you really think-" He started, pulling Eren close. "that I wouldn't find you again?"

He smashed the back of Eren's head against the tree he was leaning on.

"Did you really think, you little fucker, that you could get away from ME?"

He punctuated the last word by smashing his knee straight into the deer's face.

Eren panted, trying to get rid of the spots dancing in front of his eyes. Levi pulled out one of his knives and rested the tip against Eren's collarbone. He let his eyes roam up Eren's face, thoroughly relishing in the fear that the deer had been unable to hide.

"So tell me, dear Eren. How does it feel knowing that you're going to die? Tell me, did your dear mommy ever tell you about the big, bad wolf who lives in the forest and steals little baby deer?"

Digging the tip of his knife into Eren's collarbone, Levi relished in the sight of the buck tensing up and letting out a sharp yell of pain.

"Did your dear mommy tell you that  _I'm_  the big bad wolf?" Levi said with a honeyed voice.

Eren groaned again, trying to make sense of what the hunter was saying.

"I-if you're going to do it, j-just do it already." Eren stuttered.

Levi let out a humorless laugh. "Oh but death is too good for  _you_ " he spat.

There was silence for a few seconds, broken only by Eren's stuttered breaths.

"You are going to come with me. There are people who will spent a lot of money for such a  _pretty face._ "

Eren was quiet. He could run away at night, or when Levi wasn't watching. He could run faster than the hunter and he would just keep running and running.

"Oh by the way. I can see your little brain working its cogs. Don't bother running away. I will hunt you till the ends of the earth if I have to. And I'm sure your little  _mate_  and your blondie wouldn't like their head strung up on my wall."

Eren's eyes widened at the threat. "Y-you wouldn't"

"Why not? The swine from the cities will just eat their pretty little faces alive. And I do need to thank them for ever so nicely keeping their end of the little deal we had."

"Stay away from them! They haven't done anything to you!" Eren yelled, thrashing in his bonds.

"Well then, if you ever want to see them with their heads connected to their bodies, I suggest you don't even try to run. I found you once, I will find you again." Levi said with a small smile.

"After all, who better than me to set you in your place?"

Eren shuddered, feeling defeated. He couldn't put his friends in danger and he had no doubts the hunter wouldn't have any trouble finding them again.

"Okay." Eren said quietly.

He leaned down, pressed his bare hand against Eren's exposed collarbone and swiped his fingers across the shallow cut he had left there earlier.

"Good. That means you're all mine now." Levi snarled sadistically.

He pulled out a leather strap and a length of chain from his backpack. He reached around Eren's neck and fastened the collar to his pale neck.

"This means you're all mine." He repeated, tugging on the chain and earning him a strangled cough from the buck.

Levi stood up turned around to wipe his knife clean of Eren's blood. The deer leaned his head against the tree, chain rattling with his movements.

"Fuck." He breathed.

"Fuck."

* * *

 

The pair had been travelling for half a day now. They moved in silence. Eren was too scared to start a conversation with the hunter and Levi was just… being Levi. The hunter didn't mind the silence. It meant that he didn't have to waste energy being annoyed at his 'companion'

"Oi brat, can't you walk any faster? I'm getting old here." Levi said, stopping by a tree and tugging harshly on the chain.

"W-well you did shoot me in the leg…" Eren coughed out.

"Oh yea I was wondering about that, why isn't there a bullet wound in your leg?" The hunter questioned.

Eren paused for a second, trying to think of a good explanation. "I… just heal fast."

Levi nodded at him and turned around. They had to take a detour, as Levi didn't want to run into Eren's pack again. It would take them a week to get back by Levi's calculations but unfortunately for him, he forgot to add in the fact that his "cargo" was moving slower than his goddamn grandma.

They walked unhindered for another hour or so before Eren timidly asked for a break.

Levi turned around with an exasperated sigh. "If I had known you were this much of a pussy then I wouldn't have bothered to bring you alive."

"You could always leave me behind." Eren suggested.

"Oh yes but then I'd have to kill you, take your pick." Levi supplied sarcastically.

Eren gulped and shook his head. He sat down on a nearby rock and stretched out his legs. He rubbed gently at the place he had been shot and sighed. He had better be polite. The hunter scared the shit out of him and he really did not want a repeat of earlier.

"Sir… do you mind if I ask where we are going?"

Levi sat on a rock across from him. "To my house."

Eren looked up and studied the hunter. Earlier he thought that Levi's angry expression was because he was… well… angry. But now he saw that the hunter always had a scowl on his face no matter what the mood.

He sighed and rubbed his face, wincing when a red hot streak shot through his cheek.

After a few minutes, Levi took a swig out of a bottle and stood up giving the chain a tug.

"We've wasted enough time. Now get up and let's go."

Eren didn't budge.

"Brat! Get up and let's go." Levi stated again, getting impatient.

"Eren! UP!" He shouted. The startled deer jumped straight up. "YESSIR!"

"Don't call me sir."

"YES MA'AM!"

"I mean.. sir! – uh Mister!" Eren stuttered.

"Eren… do you know my name?" Levi asked, stepping forward.

"Y-yes…"

"Really… What is it then?" He took another step forward, winding the silver chain around his hands.

"Uh….."

"That's what I thought." Levi said as he grabbed the deer by an antler. "So what you're really saying is that back a few days, when we so delightfully exchanged names, you didn't bother to remember mine?"

He pulled Eren's chain down so that they were face to face and stared him right in the eyes. They were so freaking  _green._

"Do you take me for a fool?  _Jaeger?"_ He whispered threateningly as he felt the boy tremble before him.

"No! No… I just wasn't really thinking. I was just trying to live you know..." Eren defended. Levi considered the boy in front of him for a few seconds before curling his lip in disgust.

"My name is Levi." He growled before letting Eren go.

The deer took a deep breath to try and calm his racing heart. He hated this short, angry  _bitch_  of a man. Why was he so rude? Eren hadn't done anything and already he had been shot, yelled at, whipped, kicked and frightened to within an inch of his life. Oh and now he was on a chain. Like a dog.

"Come on! My grandma can walk faster than you, even when she's constipated."

Eren let out a frustrated sigh and turned to follow the hunter.

* * *

 

"What's the city like?"

Levi stopped and turned around. "Why do you want to know?"

"Armin told me about the city. I'm curious." Eren said with a roll of his shoulders.

"The city is filthy." Levi spat. "Full of swine and asses."

"Asses… sir?"

"What did I say about sir?" The hunter warned.

"Sorry." Eren paused. "I went to the city once, indeed it was full of asses."

Levi raised his eyebrows, surprised. "You've been to the city?"

Eren nodded but didn't say more. The hunter looked up at the blue sky. "I'm going to have some lunch, there are some hot springs up that side of the mountain and I desperately need a bath. Drink some water." He said.

Eren nodded again and the pair kept walking.

* * *

 

They arrived at the side of the mountain two hours later, where Levi had scouted a small cave close to some hot springs. Technically it was where the side had been worn into a high plateau. The earth was almost white and Eren had thought it was snow but it turned out that it was just hardened clay. It was pitted with holes and large craters of various sizes, some with steaming hot, glowing liquid inside them.

There was a gnarled tree with no leaves twisting around from behind a rock but aside from that, there was no other vegetation. The whole place seemed cold even though the ground beneath Eren's feet was warm.

Levi dropped walked into the cave and hung his backpack on what looked to be an iron nail sticking out of a wall. Peering inside, Eren saw that the floor was lined with various furs and there was a small wooden table pushed up against the wall.

Some furs hung off what looked to be a coat hanger in the corner of the room and there was a small, blackened pit near the mouth of the cave for a fire.

"Have you been here before?" Eren asked, tugging on his collar.

Levi nodded. "On long hunting trips this around here, this is the safest place to be at night."

He looped the end of Eren's chain around a branch of the tree.

"Does that mean that we are going to stay the night here?" Eren questioned.

Levi nodded at him before unclipping the chain from the collar. "What do you eat?" he asked.

Eren fiddled with the collar, not knowing where to put his hands. "Um… grass? Sometimes fruit and flowers and stuff…"

The hunter let out a 'ppft' sound as he unzipped his jacket. "Flowers? How like you."

Eren huffed indignantly. "Is there something wrong with flowers? The yellow ones are nice."

"Right right." Levi replied, pulling his gloves off and laying them on the table. He unbuckled his belt, pulled it out and lay it down too. Eren watched from his spot beside the tree, not knowing what to do with himself.

The hunter turned to Eren, wearing his undershirt, pants and belt system.

"You. Come here and help me for a second." He commanded.

The young deer hesitantly approached Levi.

"This buckle at the back, slip the strap under it so I can take it off."

Eren did as he was told, pulling the strap upwards. Levi's shirt lifted up with the strap and Eren's hands accidentally brushed against the smooth skin under.

Levi flinched and jumped away from the deer who looked startled. "D-did I do something wrong?"

"Your hands."

Eren looked down at his hands and shot Levi a questioning look.

"They're fucking freezing, and no wonder. How are you meant to be warm in that vest?"

The deer replied, "I'm not cold."

"Sure… Your ice popsicle fingers tell me that just fine." Levi growled, pulling the last of the straps off.

Eren stood on the very edge of a bearskin, trying not to do anything to make him seem any more out of place than he already was.

"Jaeger. Take the furs off the floor and pat them down. This place is filthy. I'm going to go get some firewood and if I come back and you are not within 5 meters of this cave… well, ill leave that up to your imagination." He said, rolling his sleeves up and tucking the edges of his shirt in.

Eren nodded quickly and reached for the edge of the bearskin he was standing near.

Levi walked into the darkness of the cave and the buck watched him reappear holding a large saw. He picked up his backpack, slung a rifle over his shoulder and nodded at Eren before disappearing down the side of the mountain.

Eren dragged the brown bearskin out into the fading sunlight, lifted it up and brought it down with a  _thwack._ A cloud of dust rose from the fur and Eren sneezed as he breathed some in. He repeated the action a few times before dragging it back in and bringing another out.

He was in the middle of doing one of the last skins when Levi returned, juggling a few large logs. Eren didn't help him, he just watched as the hunter dropped the logs on the blackened pit.

"I assumed you meant dandelions when you said yellow flowers." Levi said, bringing a small paper bag out of his backpack and tossed it to the deer who caught it with ease.

Eren opened the bag, surprised when he was greeted with the cheerful sight of colorful flowers. He sat on the ground and emptied the bag onto his lap. A few of dandelions, poppies and a handful of grass fell onto his lap.

He looked up at the hunter. "Thank you…" He said hesitantly.

Levi nodded at Eren and rummaged through his bag again. "I got… a few berries too." He said, pulling out another paper bag and tossing it to Eren who peered inside curiously. "They won't kill me so they won't kill you either."

He popped one in his mouth and bit down. Levi watched as his face scrunched up in disgust.

"What was that? Its disgusting!" Eren complained, spitting it out onto the ground.

Levi snickered at him. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you. You need to peel the damn thing, don't eat the skin."

Eren stuck his tongue out childishly at Levi. "Coulda told me that before I ate the whole damn thing."

He set the bag aside and put the flowers back into the bag. "I'll eat those later."

Levi scoffed at him and reached into his bag. Pulling out a box of matches, he crouched by the wood and tried to start a fire. Eren watched him for a little while before returning to his work.

The hunter had managed to get a reasonably large fire going and stood up when he heard Eren's bloodcurdling scream resonate from inside the cave. Startled, Levi turned to see what happened, his hand instinctively reaching for his handgun strapped to his hip.

The deer had come bounding outside and crashed into Levi, nearly knocking him over.

"Whoa there, calm down. What happened?" Levi asked, his hands going up to try and calm the near hysterical deer.

"There… there's a…." Eren didn't seem to be able to say what was wrong.

Levi sighed. "If you're afraid of spiders I swear to god-"

"No! It wasn't a spider!" Eren cut him off.

Levi could see the deer visibly trembling in front of him and sighed again.

"Well then what?"

"A… a deer pelt…" Eren whispered.

The hunters eyes widened in realization. "I forgot about that."

He put a hand on Eren's shoulder and pushed him away. "Just sit here for a bit. I'll put it somewhere else. The deer nodded at him and sank to his knees beside the crackling fire.

Levi ran a hand over his face as he walked into the cavern. He didn't expect to have to deal with the hysterics of his 'prey' along the way. Eren was so weak, so easily scared. And by what? A deerskin?

Levi scoffed again, easily picking up the skin and pulling it to one side. He rolled it up and hoisted it onto his shoulder, recoiling a little when he saw the cloud of dust that rose from it.

He briskly walked outside, ignoring Eren when he tensed up at the sight of the pelt.

He disappeared down the side of the mountain, only to reappear moments later with empty hands.

"There. See? Nothing to be afraid of." Levi said to still silent Eren.

"Sorry...Levi. I didn't mean to-" Eren swallowed. "Bump into you."

The hunter raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Its okay."

They stood in awkward silence for a while. There seemed to be a lot of awkward silences this trip. Levi didn't mind the quiet. At least the boy knew how to keep his mouth shut.

"I'm going to take a bath." The hunter announced.

Eren nodded at him and wrapped his arms around himself.

Levi watched the boy for another moment before heading inside. After a while, he walked outside wearing nothing but his boxers and carrying a towel in his hands.

Eren observed him as he pulled the black boxers down and stepped into the steaming water of a nearby pool. The hunter stilled for a second before sinking down until the glowing water reached his chin. Levi closed his eyes and rested his head against the rim of the crater.

He looked harmless. Pleasant even, in the dying light. If Eren forced the memories of how the hunter treated out of his head, he could imagine Levi as a nice man. Someone who left out food for stray cats and seeds for wild birds.

Eren let out a soft laugh at the thought of the hard faced hunter petting a kitten.

"Oi kid. What are you laughing at over there?" Levi's voice cut through Eren's thoughts.

"Nothing, nothing." Eren replied with a smile.

He watched the other man shrug and close his eyes again. 

Eren was almost certain the hunter wouldn't kill him, if he wanted to, he would have already. The only thing that worried him was what Levi had said about selling his  _pretty face_ to a merchant.

The buck shuddered at the thought of being someone's slave again. He was not going to go back to that.

He heard Levi sigh and look directly at him with an annoyed expression.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Levi said.

Eren hadn't realized that he had been staring.

"Sorry.." he mumbled.

Levi considered him for a few seconds before saying, "Come here. You smell like shit."

Eren froze. " I do not smell!" He protested.

"Sure sure, just come take a friggin bath."

Eren walked over to the hunter and stood by the edge of the crater. "Are you sure..?" He asked nervously.

Levi scowled. "Unless you carry some weird waterborne disease, I'm sure its fine. You'll probably get more diseases if you don't wash yourself."

The boy shook his head quickly. He unzipped his vest and shrugged it off his shoulders. Throwing it to one side, he stepped into the luminous water.

Levi was getting impatient. What the hell was taking that boy so long to get into the water? He reached out and grabbed the boy's fur covered ankle. And he tugged.

Eren fell into the water with a screech, making a big splash and soaking them both. He emerged, spluttering and coughing, pulling wet hair from his face and pouting at the hunter.

"What was that for?" He huffed indignantly.

And Levi was smiling.

It was barely a curve of the lips but nonetheless it was there. Astonished, Eren leaned back and sat against the opposite wall of the crater.

Levi had a nice smile.

The glowing water cast soft shadows on their faces and in that moment, they were just two men having a soak. Eren forgot about death threats and bullet holes.

"Do you have family Levi?"

The hunter shook his head.

"Mikasa's my sister."

Levi made an 'ah' sound. "I thought she was your mate."

Eren shrugged. "She's got Annie."

"Then.. what about the small blond?" Levi asked, trailing his fingers across the water.

Eren watched as the water rippled under his touch. "You mean Armin? He's my good friend. We go waaaaaaay back."

"Who was that..? The pelt…"

"I don't know, I got him six… seven years back. I don't exactly make it a habit of mine to ask for the names of my kills."

Eren was quiet for a while, sinking down until the water touched his bottom lip.

"My mum was taken by hunters when I was a kid."

Levi looked at Eren. "Did you want a certificate for that?" he said coldly.

"No but-" Eren started.

"Look, Eren. I don't give a crap about you and your sob story. If you're looking for pity, you wont get it from me." Levi said.

"I'm not… I was just reminded, that's all." Eren muttered, looing away.

The hunter sighed and stood up. "I'm going to get wrinkly if I soak any longer.

He turned away from Eren, grabbed his towel and started to dry his hair.

The deer allowed his eyes to travel up and down Levi's body. He was surprised to see the amount of scars that littered the hunter's body. There was barely an inch of skin that was clear. Most of the scars were faint white lines but there was a jagged, painful looking one cutting across the back of his hip and reaching from the front of Levi all the way to the small of his back.

"What happened there?" Eren asked.

Levi turned around. "What?"

"The scars on your back." He clarified.

"Most of them are just little hunting accidents." Levi turned around and stepped out of the hot spring.

"Most?"

Levi sighed. "Yea. Most."

Clearly the hunter didn't want to talk about it but his denial only made Eren want to talk about it more.

He was about to ask again when Levi turned and shot him a withering glare.

Eren closed his mouth immediately.

"Take your time. I'm going to get some dinner."

The deer carefully watched (very much naked) Levi as he dried the rest of his (very much naked) body and walked (very much naked) into the cavern.

He sunk back down into the water and let his breath bubble through the steaming liquid. How was he going to get away? How was he going to return to his family?

Levi emerged from the cave ten minutes later, fully dressed. "Okay, maybe I lied about you taking your time. I got your flowers so come here and eat."

Eren stood up and shook water droplets out of his hair.

"Hey… uh Levi, can I borrow your towel?"

"Yea go ahead."

Eren was half surprised at how easily Levi let him use the fluffy towel. The deer wrapped it around his torso and shivered against the wind. He walked over to where Levi was sitting and dropped down next to him.

"What's that?" Eren asked, pointing to a piece of meat dangling from a stick Levi was holding.

"Possum."

"Possum? There are possums in these forests?"

"Yes."

"What… do they look like? I've never seen one properly." Eren said.

"Well the reason for that is probably because you sleep at night and they run their little asses around then."

"I see…"

"They're really small. The adults look like kids with pointy ears and they have this long bushy tail." Levi described.

Eren shoved some dandelions into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

"What are you going to do with me? When we… go to your house."

Levi seemed to realize something and made an 'o' shape with his mouth. "Fuck. I need to tell Erwin."

"Tell him what?"

"We are going to be late. He sent me out to get three deer for him, alive of course, but it seems I will not get you to him in time." Levi replied.

He picked up his cooked meat and headed back into the cave. Eren heard some muffled shouting before Levi reappeared.

The firelight cast dancing shadows across his face as he scowled and sat down again.

"Something wrong?" Eren asked.

"Fucking Erwin's too busy fucking his little boy toy to do it himself. He'll get Mike and Gunter to do it."

Eren didn't bother remembering the names of the people Levi talked about.

The pair ate in silence for a little longer before Eren yawned. "Hey Levi. Can I sleep? I'm pretty tired."

"Yea same. Come inside, you can sleep on a bearskin." Levi started. "Unless you'll get creeped out again in which case you can sleep outside."

Eren shook his head, "No, bearskin is fine."

Levi dropped his stick into the fire and watched the flames lick at the thin branch for a moment before leading Eren into the dimly lit cave.

"There, you should fit on that one." Levi pointed to a dark brown skin and then shrugged his jacket off.

Eren nodded and lay down on the fur. It was very warm and soft. Softer than grass. He nuzzled into the fur and sighed as it rubbed against his cheek. He heard Levi lay down on a fur opposite him and turned to look at the hunter.

"Goodnight Levi."

The hunter scoffed. "Sure sure, if you're not here or if you try to kill me in my sleep, there will be consequences."

"I won't"

And they fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh poor poor Eren getting all whipped and collared like that.
> 
> :P
> 
> Leave me a review and a fave if you like the story so far ^^


	3. turkey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi shot a turkey and Eren is not happy about it. Also Eren is hella ticklish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~
> 
> Took me a while to grind this chapter out.
> 
> Thank you to all the comments, and kudos that all you lovely readers have granted me!

When Levi woke, he was met with the sight of a stone ceiling. He turned over and saw a deer sleeping across from him. His first instinct was to grab his rifle and bag himself a kill but then the events from the previous days came rushing back to him and he rolled onto his back with a sigh.

Today was going to be a long day.

He sat up and rubbed a calloused hand over his face.

"Eren, get up." Levi called out.

When the deer didn't show any signs of waking, he called out again, louder.

"Eren, get your fat ass up!"

Eren gave a little groan and rolled over to face away from Levi. The hunter sighed and pushed himself to his knees. He reached over and grabbed Eren's shoulder.

He jerked his hand back with force, albeit a little excessive, and Eren woke up with a yelp.

"Holy fucking what?"

Eren flinched when his eyes focused on Levi. Panic rushed through him at first but then he let out a groan. "What time is it? Its so dark."

"It's five in the morning and if you want to have breakfast with all your teeth in your mouth, I suggest you get up now." Levi replied, shooting a weak glare at the sleepy boy.

The empty threat made Eren breathe out soft laugh and slowly push himself into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes slowly. "Mmm, what are we having?

"Food." Was the only reply.

"Wonderful." Eren groaned sarcastically, running a hand through his hair and yawning.

Levi stared at the sleepy looking boy for a few seconds before walking over to the table where his clothes sat, neatly folded. He sighed and picked up his pants, sliding them on. He them pulled his belt system off the table and allowed himself a second to run his fingers over the worn leather.

Eren watched him with half-hearted interest. The tangle of straps and buckles looked complicated.

Levi spent a minute or so pulling, strapping and buckling before calling Eren over.

"Here, slip that into there." He handed the deer one end of a strap and motioned to a buckle hanging off his shoulder. "Your hands had better not be cold."

Eren nodded and fiddled with the two pieces, trying to figure out how they fit together. After a few tries, he slid the brown leather into the silver buckle and clipped it in.

Levi rolled his shoulders and nodded thanks to him.

Eren stood back, unsure of what he should do with himself as Levi was dressing. Thankfully, Levi saw him nervously fiddling with the edge of his hoodie and told him to roll up the furs.

The hunter redressed himself quickly, shivering slightly in the morning air. The fire from the night before had gone out just a few hours before and it would be too much of a hassle to restart it.

He slipped his hands into his gloves, wiggling his fingers and feeling the material rub satisfyingly against his hands. Levi heard Eren groan and he turned around to see the deer bent over a large black bearskin.

 _Man, what the swine of the cities wouldn't give for a piece of that ass._ Levi thought with a scoff.

Eren would sell for a lot, he was young, had a pretty face and that fierce fire in his eyes that old perverts absolutely loved.

Levi leaned against the table and watched Eren roll the furs. He hadn't decided on what to do with the boy after they reached the headquarters. He wasn't going to kill Eren for antlers or meat, which meant the deer would either be sold to the slave traders or gifted to a nobleman from Erwin for a favor.

The hunter frowned.

"Okay! I'm done, what now?" Eren's overly cheery voice cut through Levi's thoughts.

He breathed out a small sigh. "Lets go find something to eat."

Eren nodded and watched Levi sling his bag over his shoulder. He followed Levi out of the cave.

It was still dark out, the sky was dyed a deep blue and Eren could just make out the outline of trees in the distance. He stretched up, enjoying the cold brush of the air against his exposed stomach and the soft pop of his bones readjusting themselves.

The feeling of the morning air biting at his nose and ears was one he knew well. Mikasa and Armin often woke him up early when she wanted to go play with rabbits. Bunnies rarely stayed out after seven and the three of them would often go play tag with the fluffy animals before the rest of the herd woke up.

Eren smiled at the memories.

"Oi! Are you coming or what?"

Then there was this asshole.

Eren let his arms fall back against with a heavy  _thud_. He sighed and turned to follow Levi.

* * *

By the time the pair had climbed to the next hill, they had enough food to last them for the two following days. Levi had managed to shoot a bush turkey and much to Eren's disgust, insisted on making him carry the dead bird.

It was his "punishment" for squawking so loudly when Levi had shot the bird and nearly making him miss.

Eren had found and raided a cherry tree. The hood of his jacket was filled to the brim with the red fruit and every few minutes, he'd pull one out and eat it.

The two of them sat in silence on the soft grass at the top of a hill. An hour had passed since they left the cave and the sun was just peeking its head over the crest of the mountain ranges in the distance.

Eren was popping cherries into his mouth and Levi was absentmindedly rubbing circles in the grass as he stared out across the tops of the trees.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Levi said, reaching into his bag and pulling out Eren's collar and chain.

The deer let out a whine at the sight of the leather. "Do I really have to? It's not like I'm going to run away."

Levi shot him a hard glare to which Eren sighed.

He walked over to the hunter. There was no point in resisting, Levi would make him wear the humiliating thing with sheer force.

He knelt by Levi and let the man reach around his neck. Levi pulled the leather tight and clipped the chain on. He tugged hard on the chain and watched with satisfaction as Eren coughed, hands flying up to tug at the collar.

"Was that really necessary?" Eren coughed out, pulling roughly at the leather.

"Yes it was. I needed to make sure that it was tied securely." Levi replied.

"Great."

Eren sighed and watched Levi run his thumb over his end of the chain. The hunter stood up and so did Eren.

"We're going to go over there." Levi pointed to a tall mountain which had the sun rising behind it.

"Wait, are we going over it or around it? It's a pretty friggin big mountain." Eren said.

"We'll just get up to under halfway, there's another rest area there." Levi replied, giving the chain a firm tug.

Eren lurched forward again. "Would you stop that! The damn thing isn't going to break."

"No. Now lets go." Levi answered flatly.

* * *

It was around midday when the pair stopped at a creek some lunch. Levi had made a small fire and was roasting a small portion of the turkey on it. Eren was sitting on a rock by the stream, throwing small pebbles into the clear water. His chain lay unattended on the ground.

"Do you always do this?" Eren asked.

"Do what?"

"Go out into the forests, capture things…"

"Well I'm a hunter, it's in my job description. Usually I'm not this far out and I don't bother capturing animals alive."

"Why me then? Why go to all the bother?" The deer asked, genuinely curious. He had thought it was odd that Levi had bothered to follow him so far into the wilderness.

"Did you know you're the first target that's ever gotten away from me after I had you in my hands?" Levi said, turning away from the fire and looking at Eren. "You're the first  _animal_ I've let go since I started hunting. And you … intrigue me."

That was all Levi said and it confused Eren to no end. Intrigued him? What did that mean?

Eren looked down at the chain leading down his body. He absolutely hated the thing. It was humiliating and it reminded him of  _old times_. When Levi pulled too hard on the chain, the sides of the leather collar dug into the sensitive skin of his throat and left stinging red marks on it.

He would have protested harder against the damn thing but it seemed pointless, he knew Levi was going to make him wear it anyways and he would add some painful punishment for protesting.

Eren sighed.

He wanted to go home.

"Stop that." Levi's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Stop what?" Eren asked with a slight roll of his eyes.

"That."

"What?" Eren asked again, a little annoyed."

"The  _haaaahhh_ thing" Levi clarified, doing a half hearted imitation of Eren's sigh.

"Well I'm sorry, I didn't know this damn collar was supposed to stop me from breathing." Eren retorted, folding his arms defensively across his chest.

"It isn't unless you're blowing air out of your mouth louder than a horse after a race."

Eren pursed his lips in annoyance. He didn't think that the hunter would be so nitpicky about his habits.

"Well if you have a problem with it then don't listen." He said, sticking his tongue out childishly at Levi.

"Do that again and I'll cut that off." Levi threatened. He reached down and brushed his fingers lightly over the knife that was tucked into his belt. Eren couldn't tell if he was serious or not but decided not to risk it.

The deer let out another sigh, unintentionally this time, and stiffened when he was shot a withering glare.

"Sorry.." Eren mumbled.

"What do you miss your mommy or something? Suck it up like a good little boy." Levi growled.

"Why do you always have to bring her up? She's gone okay? She's gone and yes I always fucking miss her so if you're going to be such an asshole, at least leave her out of it!" Eren's voice rose to a yell at the end of his sentence.

Levi raised a delicate eyebrow at the boy's small outburst. "Okay." He said quietly.

Eren looked taken aback. "Okay?"

"Yea, If it really bothers your shitty little ass that much, I won't talk about your mother." Levi replied.

"What, just like that?"

"Don't make me reconsider."

"What, no but… I expected…" Eren trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

"Look, I know you don't like me much but I'm not enough of an asshole to prod at things that should be left alone" Levi said, looking away.

Eren swallowed. "Thank you I guess…"

Eren honestly hadn't expected Levi to be so…  _okay._  The hunter walked over to where he was siting on the rock and took hold of his chain. He looked at Eren expectantly.

The deer took the hint. "Yea yea, lets go."

* * *

By the time the two had reached Levi's campsite, night had crept upon them and Eren was absolutely exhausted. Like their previous night's lodgings, Eren saw that the ground was tightly packed white clay, the only difference was that there were no craters pitting the earth. He could see a few tall trees and some patches of grass close to the mouth of a small cave. It seemed to Eren that Levi liked sleeping in caves.

He let out a tired laugh at the thought.

Levi let go of Eren's chain and walked towards the edge of the dark cave. He dropped his backpack and knelt next to it, rummaging through it. Eren walked towards him and eyed the bag curiously.

"What are you looking for?" He asked.

"Torch and matches" Levi replied.

Eren nodded.

After a few seconds, Eren spoke up again. "Um… What's a torch?" He asked.

Levi ignored him and proceeded to pull out a small black pole looking thing. "This is a torch." He said and switched it on.

The end of it was pointing directly at Eren and the light shone straight into his eyes.

"Argh!' Eren yelled and stumbled backwards, trying to get out of the harsh white light.

Levi quickly pointed the torch away from the startled deer. "My bad."

He didn't sound apologetic.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's a torch."

"It's a torture device you mean." Eren said while trying to rub away the spots dancing in his vision.

"It's a torch." Levi repeated, standing up. "Hold this like that." He placed the torch in Eren's hands, facing it towards the cave. The deer fumbled slightly with the device, not really wanting to touch the thing that nearly blinded him.

Levi clicked his tongue. He walked into the dimly lit cavern and soon reappeared with a few logs in his arms. Eren sat on the cold ground, staring down at the torch suspiciously as the hunter started to make a fire.

When he had a steady blaze going, Levi reached his hand out to Eren. "Give me some of those cherries."

"What? Why?" Eren questioned, reaching into his hood and pulling out a handful.

"Just give."

Eren handed over the berries to the hunter who brought forward a clear plastic bag. In it was half of the raw turkey Levi had shot earlier.

The hunter poured a little bit of water over his hands to clean them and took the turkey meat out of the bag.

Despite his disgust, Eren watched interestedly as Levi pushed two thumbs into the meat and made a small tear in it. The hunter put the turkey on top of the plastic bag on his lap and pulled a cherry in half. He took out the seed and put the cherry flesh into the tear in the turkey.

The deer watched Levi repeat this a few times before being told to pull a small length of string from his pocket. He did it and returned to his position beside Levi and watched him close up the tear in the meat with the string and tie it to a long stick above the fire.

"Well that was utterly disgusting." Eren commented.

"For you maybe, but it will taste pretty good." Levi said, wiping his hands on some grass. "Turn that off, I don't need it now that there's a fire."

Eren ran his slender fingers over the torch, trying to find a way to switch the light off. When he couldn't, he looked up at Levi apologetically, bottom lip protruding in a pout. "I don't know how."

Levi sighed. "Push the end, there should be a button."

Eren did as he was told and let out a small  _oh!_  in delight as the light switched off. He handed the torch back to Levi and planted his hands behind him. Looking around, Eren saw that the inside of the cave was not covered in fur, nor was there any sort of visible furniture around.

There was, however, a rather violent looking array of axes, swords and weaponry hanging off the far wall. It made Eren uncomfortable and he shifted where he sat, turning his body away from the mouth of the cave and towards where the mountainside rushed to meet the earth underneath.

"We aren't going to sleep in the cave by the way, this is Erwin's hideout and god knows he's fucked his dog on every surface there is…" Levi trailed off, staring to the side.

The thought made Eren jump up from his seat. "What!? Even there..?" Eren asked, pointing to the patch of flattened grass he was just sitting on.

"No not there, he's allergic to grass thank god. We'll sleep on the grassy patches knowing its free of their …remains…" Levi replied.

Eren's shoulders visibly relaxed and he sank to his knees. "This grass is really really soft." He commented, running his hand across the top of the green patch.

Levi watched him play with the grass in his fingers for a while before turning towards the fire and removing the turkey. It was a golden brown colour at the top and slightly burnt at the bottom.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I've left it a little too long."

Eren watched with morbid fascination as Levi pulled a thin strip off the turkey and put it in his mouth.

"Something interesting on my face?" Levi questioned, tearing off another strip of meat.

Eren shook his head quickly and looked away.

After a while, Levi held out the meat. "Do you want some?"

The deer looked at him incredulously. "Are you fucking kidding me? No way!"

Levi let out a scoff. "Are you sureee?" He waved it around under Eren's face slowly. The boy scowled and pushed his arm away.

"That's disgusting, I'm not going to eat meat! Let alone something that was alive a day ago." Eren said, lip curling in revulsion.

"So its okay if it was dead for two days?" Levi said, biting into the hot meat and visibly relishing in the sweet cherry taste flooding his mouth.

Eren's eyes widened as he watched the hunter eat. He swallowed down the nausea that threatened to bubble up his throat and spew out of his mouth. Levi looked at the rather green faced deer and a wicked idea popped into his head.

"Hey Eren, do I have anything in my teeth?" Levi asked, taking an especially large bite and baring his teeth.

Eren looked at the hunter's mouth, saw bits of meat, covered in blood red cherry juice and bolted. He ran to the edge of the mountainside and heaved up the remains of his undigested lunch.

Levi watched the deer sprint and spew out the contents of his stomach. He chuckled to himself. Maybe that was a little cruel.

Just a little.

Eren returned, standing a few meters away from Levi. "A- Are you quite done there?"

Levi looked at him and shook his head.

"I'll… just sit here then." Eren said, turning around and folding his legs underneath him.

A few minutes passed and Eren was hit in the back of head by something heavy and rather painful. He let out a groan and turned around, rubbing his head.

"What the fuck Levi?"

"Water. Get the vomit out of your mouth." Levi replied.

"Oh." Eren picked up the bottle lying in the grass and opened it. He took a few gulps and put it on the ground.

"Do you… want me to throw it back?" He asked cautiously.

"Depends entirely on if you can aim or not." Levi responded.

Eren picked it up again and threw it as hard as he could at the man.

"NOT RIGHT NOW EREN!" Levi suddenly screamed, dropping his half eaten turkey in his lap and reaching out for the flying piece of metal. Luckily, the meat landed on the plastic bag and Levi caught the bottle without too much trouble.

"Oh Shit! Sorry!" Eren called out before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

_I guess I kinda deserved that._

Levi sighed and put the bottle to the side. He pulled the corners of the plastic bag together and lifted the thing off his lap. Standing up, he rolled the plastic bag around the meat and put it in his bag.

"I'll eat the rest of it tomorrow." He said before turning around and walking towards Eren who was lying on his side, laughing softly.

"So you think that's funny do you? I'll show you funny." He said threateningly.

Eren rolled over onto his back to look up at the hunter before a palm cut off his vision across his eyes. He was about to panic when he felt fingers worming their way under his chin.

Was Levi _tickling_  him?

The warm digits started to scrape lightly against his throat. Levi was  _tickling_  him! Suddenly the deer felt giddy pleasure overcome him and started to laugh.

"Oh god! stop! Levi.. ahahaha" He writhed, trying to get away from the hunter.

"NO!" Levi shouted over his giggles.

The hunter moved his hand away from Eren's eyes and started wiggling his fingers at Eren's sides. The deer convulsed under him with a shriek.

"LEVI! GET OFF- AHAHAHA- S-STOP!" He screamed, arms and legs flying. The hunter narrowly dodged an elbow to the face.

Eren managed to grab hold of Levi's shoulder and moved his hand upwards to the underside of his chin. He started to move his fingers, hoping that Levi was as ticklish as him.

"You do realise that I'm not a little boy and that I'm not ticklish at all right?" Levi said, stopping with his palms flat against the deer's stomach.

"You w-what?" Eren pouted, retracting his hand.

_Yep. Swine would pay bucket loads for that face._

"But you get points for trying." Levi shrugged and stood up.

Suddenly, Eren felt cold. The unexpected loss of Levi's warm hands left a strange tingling sensation on his stomach. He rolled over and pressed his own arms to where Levi's had just been.

"Are you going to sleep there?" Levi asked, turning away.

Eren nodded slowly, exhaustion had crept up where the adrenaline had drained away.

"Well?" Levi asked.

The deer realised that the other man couldn't see him and quickly said "Yes, this is fine."

Levi threw Eren a strange look from over his shoulder and went to his bag. Picking it up, he strode back to Eren. The deer blinked at him sleepily.

"Where are you going to sleep?"

Levi looked around and walked towards a nearby patch of grass. "Here." He indicated.

Eren yawned and closed his eyes. "Okay goodnight then."

He was out cold in seconds.

Levi pulled out a small black cloth out of his bag. He lay down and pulled it over him. Rolling over so that he faced the deer, he realised something.

Eren had fallen asleep with his collar on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY I JUST REALLY NEEDED TO ADD SOME SORT OF VAGUELY FLUFFY SOMETHING!
> 
> And i know it seems Eren has Stockholm Syndrome, he's not really supposed to and i promise i'll work on making him seem more... normal.
> 
> Leave me a review if you liked this chapter and i hope you have a wonderful day!
> 
> Nat

**Author's Note:**

> So how do you guys like this idea? :D
> 
> Leave me your thoughts in a review and i hope you liked it.


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